Microsoft had given Oct. 18 as a tentative release date for IE but had not made it available itself before Yahoo did Yahoo put a customized version of Internet Explorer 7 on its Web site for downloading on Wednesday, before Microsoft’s own release of the browser.The download page for the specialized final version of IE7 appeared during the afternoon on Wednesday, U.S. Pacific time. Microsoft, in Redmond, Washington, had given Oct. 18 as a tentative release date for the product but had not made the software available itself before Yahoo did.Yahoo’s version of IE7 includes the Yahoo toolbar and uses Yahoo’s search tool as a default. It also features two home pages, Yahoo and Yahoo News, according to the company’s Web site. The software can run on Windows XP Service Pack 2, XP 64-bit Edition and Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1, according to Yahoo’s Web site.Microsoft has a lot riding on the software, its first major update of the browser since 2001. Since then, IE has lost market share to Mozilla’s open-source browser, Firefox.Neither Microsoft nor Yahoo was immediately available for comment. Software DevelopmentTechnology Industry